News Archive

News Archive

Sanofi joins Open Targets

Unique public-private consortium to identify and prioritise therapeutic targets for new medicines using genomics, bioinformatics and traditional pharmaceutical research gains a new partner

Open Targets announced today (29 October) that Sanofi has joined its pioneering public-private collaboration to transform drug discovery by improving the success rate for developing new medicines. Sanofi’s expertise in immunology, oncology, neurosciences and diabetes will complement the offerings of the current partners GSK, Biogen, Takeda, Celgene, the Wellcome Sanger Institute and the EMBL’s European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI).

Mutant cells colonise our tissues over our lifetime

Scientists may need to rethink the role of some cancer genes in the light of sequencing normal tissues

By the time we reach middle age, more than half of the oesophagus in healthy people has been taken over by cells carrying mutations in cancer genes, scientists have uncovered. By studying normal oesophagus tissue, scientists at the Wellcome Sanger Institute, MRC Cancer Unit, University of Cambridge and their collaborators uncovered a hidden world of mutations and evolution in our tissues as we age .

Milestone reached in major developmental disorders project

Eight years after launch, the Deciphering Developmental Disorders project has identified 49 completely new disorders and provided diagnoses to 4,500 children with rare diseases

Working closely with consultant NHS clinicians in all 24 Regional Genetic Centres across the UK and Ireland, the Deciphering Developmental Disorders researchers have sequenced the DNA of the 33,500 parents and children involved in the study. To date, the project has found diagnoses for over 4,500 children.

The approach could help doctors identify which patients may benefit from specific treatments or clinical trials

Scientists have developed a successful method to make truly personalised predictions of future disease outcomes for patients with certain types of chronic blood cancers. Wellcome Sanger Institute researchers and collaborators combined extensive genetic and clinical information to predict the prognosis for patients with myeloproliferative neoplasms. Published in the New England Journal of Medicine, the research identified eight different genetic subgroups of the disease and could lead to personalised medicine for patients with these blood cancers.

25 UK species' genomes sequenced for first time

The high-quality genomes will be made freely available to scientists to use in their research

The genomes of 25 UK species have been read for the first time by scientists at the Wellcome Sanger Institute and their collaborators. The 25 completed genome sequences, announced today (4 October) on the Sanger Institute’s 25th anniversary, will lead to future studies to understand the biodiversity of the UK and aid the conservation and understanding of our species.

Journey to precision cancer treatment takes off with new passports tool

Cell Model Passports, a user-friendly website described in Nucleic Acids Research will enable cancer researchers in both academia and industry not only to access high-quality raw and processed genomic and functional datasets, but also to select the best model(s) for their research. Before now, finding the most relevant cancer model(s) has often been difficult and time consuming – the Passports will streamline this process.

Newly sequenced mouse genomes unearth unknown genes

16 newly sequenced mouse genomes have revealed new gene structures and coding loci absent from the current reference strain. This discovery could impact future research in genetics, drug development and beyond.

Skin is a battlefield for mutations

Our skin is a microcosm of Darwinian evolution where only the cells with the most useful characteristics survive

Normal skin contains a patchwork of mutated cells, yet very few go on to eventually form cancer and scientists have now uncovered the reason why. Researchers at the Wellcome Sanger Institute and MRC Cancer Unit, University of Cambridge genetically engineered mice to show that mutant cells in skin tissue compete with each other, with only the fittest surviving.

Rare genetic disorders more complex than thought

Study reveals that common genetic variants could affect the risk of rare developmental disorders

The study published today (26 September) in Nature will help researchers understand how an individual’s whole genetic make-up can modify the effect of rare damaging variants typically thought to cause these developmental disorders. They also revealed that common genetic variants known to increase the risk of conditions such as schizophrenia also increased the risk of rare developmental disorders.

Wellcome Sanger Institute at 25: how the genomic revolution is changing medicine

Leaps forward in knowledge have allowed scientists and doctors to start to bringing advances out of the lab and into the clinic to directly benefit patients

This October, the Wellcome Sanger Institute, one of the world’s leading centres of genomic research, celebrates 25 years of research and discovery through genome sequencing. In the same week, the NHS will become the first health service in the world to routinely offer genomic medicine as part of patient care.